The Casual Cruelty of “Flipping the Camera”

A new TikTok trend has teens "flipping the camera" on the unassuming people recording their dance videos.

Major influencers like Tinx have called out the trend's mean-spirited nature.

Now, the responses to the videos have become a trend of their own.

Not all TikTok trends are created equally. Some are inoffensive and easily digestible (like, say, those inescapable Beez in Da Trap x What’s Going On videos), while others mine personal relationships for a viral moment (for example, clips that test the Bird Theory ). But every so often, a seemingly innocuous trend will set off an intense analytical discourse about its origins and necessity—and the sudden outbreak of “Flipping the Camera” videos has managed to just do that.

The clips, which began popping up at the end of last month, are p